Electric-contact-operating device



Sept. 25,1923. 4 1,468,789

0. M. LEIGH ELECTRIC CONTACT OPERATING DEVICE Filed April 24, 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W617 ,Znvarzfr I Z UJcQW/ZL 6564 W 5 am TMflZVM (ZZ/j 1 468 789 Sept. 25, o. LEIGH 7 v 7 ELECTRIC CONTACT OPERATING DEVICE Filed Afiril 24, 1918 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Q7 0 I 2 5; M Z0 0 Z 5 id Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAJP M LEIGH. OF GENOA, ILLINOIS. ASSIGNOR TO LEIGH ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF

1 GENOA, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC-CONTACT-OPERATING DEVICE.

Application filed April 24, 1918. Serial No. 230, 147.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Oso M. In citizen of the United States, residln at Genoa, in the county of De Kalb and jtate of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric-Contact- Operating Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, andexactdescript on. reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specifi cation.

My invention relates to electric contact opera-ting devices and has to do more particularly with devices of this character employed as alternating current rectifier-s, one of the objects of my invention being to provide a simple and inexpensive Il'ltlClllllG, easy to maintain and steady. in its operation. A further object of my invention is to pro vide a vibratory device of this character having a polarized electromagnetadapted to be actuated by alternating current and whose armature is supported, by a pivotally mounted free operating shaft carrying a multiple-contact operating-plate vibrating in synclupnism with the in]; d current so as to cut in and out on the wave at the proper time in order to supply a rectified or uni directional current, that is, a cu rent flow-- ing in one direction. Although in the preferred application of my invention I. have shown itas a rectifier, it is to be understood that it is not limited to si'ich-use, as I contemplate applying it in other ways. 7

In my application Serial No. 139. 39? fi e'i December 28, 1916, Patent No. 1324.742. patented Dec. 9, 1919, I have shown and am claiming a. multiple rectifier, the present case being in some 1GS]')QCtS an improvement over the said application.

I understand that vibratory rcctitiers ot iilitl'erent kinds have already been produced but there are certain objections to these devices which my invention overcomes.

My invention is particularly useful where a cheap and simple device is to be used, a further advantage being that it may be set into operation and run for long periods with comparatively little attention, being useful in telephone exchanges, garages and like places where an inexpensive effective device is needed for charging storage batteries from the alternating current main. One of the'ditiiculties in the construction of a machine of this character'is to provide :1 cheap small machine of compaiatively largev output as the amount of current which may flow through any single contact is of course limited, but to overcome this I have provided a nniltiple-contact operating-device which quite positive in effecting a simultaneous operation of a plurality of contacts connected in multiple. It quite important in a device of this character that the multiple (UD'CRC s be practically simultaneous in their operation so as to all get the full amount of the iiredeterinined portion of the current wave. By providing each of the multiplecontacts with a protective resistance the combined resistance is comparatively low although each contactis individually prov ()ne of the objections to the ordinary device in which a spring mounted arm-dare is provided, is that the resiliency he spring mounting varies. .Thus the nature tends to operate out of step with the impressed alternating current as the pitch of the tongue or reed varies. This, of course, causes improper operation of the "acts so that the output of the machine affected. That is the output may vary, or the direction of current alternate. In order to overcome this objection I have pro- 'vided a pivoted freely operable armature, .t is an armature preferably normally i'rce of spring tension which would tend to tune the armature, as in the case of a spring mounted device. This tree operating armature carries a multiple-contact operating plate and it is quite important that these moveable elements of the device be freely operable but without any undue play during ta M.

normal operation. Therefore I provide an cuit through a switch l7.

contacts operate simultaneously so as to make and break at the proper point in the current wave and it will be apparent that a very close adjustment of the contacts may be secured with the adjustment shown.

I have found that a current of about 1.1} amperes through each of the pairs of contacts 36, 39 will not harm the contacts even though they do not operate exactly in step. Thus with the six multiply connected contacts, as provided in the present device, the machine can have an, output of about 9 ampei'es without injury to the contacts themselves irrespccti e of any faulty operation. However, the output can be varied by changing the number of pairs of contacts 36 and 39.

In Fig. 6 is shown diagrammatically a method. of connecting up the machine for charging a, storage battery from an ordinary 110 volt cycle line circuit. In this diagram the various parts have reference characters corresponding to the reference characters indicated in Figs. 1 to 5. The contacts 39 it will be noted are each connected through a resistance device, preferably a lamp 12. so as to reduce the flow through each set of contacts to one and onehalf ainperes.

The lamp circuits are connected in multiple by the commonstrip 13. The polarized elcctromagnet 15, 16 is connected in series with a condenser 14 and across the line cir- The capacity of the condenser 14 is properly proportioned to the resistance and impedance of the electromagnet so that the armature 32 and contact operating plate 33 step in phase with the alternating current and thus the contacts 36, 39 when properly adjusted, make and break at the proper point in the current wave. Thus, at each complete cycle, a current impulse is transmitted through the charging circuit including the storage battery 46 and switch 48. The charging current flow through this battery is uni-directional, that is in one direction. the contacts 36, 39 simply operateupon one-half of the cycle. Thus the eontii'uied operation of the machine effects a charging of the storage battery byconvertiug the alternating current source 45 into a uni-directional current.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto obtain by Letters Patent is: p

1. A; device of the character described conu'irising an elcctromagnet, an armature adapted to be vibrated thereby, a shaft carrying said armature mounted for pivotal n'ioven'ient, a contact plate carried by the shaft and rec'iprocated therewith, a plurality of contacts simultaneously cooperating with the contacts on said plate, and means for maintaining said plate normally biased and thus free of the contacts, said means having a uniform effect on the period of vibration of the armature.

2. A device of the character described comprising an electromagnet, an armature adapted to be vibrated thereby, a shaft carrying said armature mounted for pivotal movement, a contact plate carried by the shaft and reciproeated therewith, a plurality of contacts simultaneously cooperating with the contacts on said plate, and means for overcoming the polarizing effect and n'iaintaining said plate normally biased and thus free of the contacts, said means having a constant effect on the period of vibration of said armature.

3. A device of the character described comprising a polarizedtwo-pole electromagnet, an armature mounted for pivotal nmvernei'it about a central pivot and having an end operatively related to each electromagnet pole so as to be vibrated thereby, means tending normally to swing said armature in one direction and a non-magnetic yicldable anti-sticking device carried at each end of the armature cooperative with the corresponding pole.

i. A device of the character described comprising a two-spool polarized electromagnct, a plate connecting the operating poles thereof, a shaft pivot-ally carried by said plate transverse of said poles, an arma ture carried at one end of the shaft and cooperative with the electromagnet, and a multiple-contact operating plate carried at the other end of said shaft.

5. A device of the character described comprising a polorized electromagnet, a mounting plate secured to the operating poles thereof, bearing brackets positioned transverse of the said poles, an operating shaft pivotally supported between said brackets, an, armature at one end of said shaft adjacent said poles and a multiple contact operating plate carried at the other end of the shaft, both the armature and the contact plate being positioned between the bearing brackets.

(i. A device of th character described comprising a polarized electrimiagnet inincluding' parallel spools, a mounting plate connecting the operatii g poles of the spools, an elongated transver ly positioned shaft carried by the mounting plate, an armature at one end of the shaft and a contact 0 crating plate at the other end of the sha t, said contact plate lying parallel to the shaft and mounting plate, a contact carrying plate lying parallel to the contact operating plate, and means for adjusting the contact carrying plate toward and, away from the contact operating plate, I

7. A device of the character described comprising a polarized electromagnet in cluding parallel spools, a shaft disposed per- 

